Ulla's Strawberry Roulade

Holiday souvinirs

Method

Line a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment.
Preheat oven to 220°c.

Wash and prepare the strawberries, cutting them into halves or quarters, according to their size. Sprinkle the strawberries with the sugar, cover and put to one side.

Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar. Whisk up the egg whites with the other half until stiff and fold into the egg yolks. Sieve the flour and cornflour into a bowl and fold gently into the egg mixture. Spread the mix on to the baking parchment and bake for 8 to 12 minutes in the centre of the oven.

Sprinkle a cloth (I think I might use aluminium foil) with icing sugar and when the sponge is cooked, turn it out on to the cloth/foil, removing the baking parchment. Cover the sponge with a damp cloth while it cools, to keep it moist. Meanwhile, beat the cream with the sugar until it becomes stiff, stir in the berries and spread on to the cool sponge. Roll up the sponge and sieve some icing sugar over it before serving.

Gone are the times when I would return from a trip abroad with a bag stuffed with postcards and knick-knacks purchased in a desperate attempt to take home a piece of that special holiday. These days I seem to spend considerable time trying to rid our home at Whitsend of so much clutter acquired this way and prefer to come home with a notebook of ideas for my kitchen – I guess in a desperate attempt to achieve the efficiency and order it seems to lack most of the time – my notebook is small, light and what’s more, I can recreate a part of that lovely holiday in my kitchen.

Last week Mr T and I were in Germany and enjoyed sampling the produce of some very efficiently run kitchens. I’ve brought home some notes which I would like to share with you, though I haven’t yet had chance to try the recipes out. (Maybe some of you Whistler readers will manage to do that before I do – please let us know how you get on, if you do). Our first port of call was near Stuttgart, where we were greeted by a most delicious strawberry roulade made by our friend, Ulla. This was new to me, though perhaps you will find it’s rather like your regular Swiss roll.

Ulla’s cake was delicious – I hope mine is and yours too!

Mrs Trewhitless